


Puppy Love

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5458706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knew they were going to turn every hair on his head white and then make it fall out.  At least Olivia would still love him when he was bald and deranged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puppy Love

“Hey Liv, look at this one. Look at this one over here, he's really cute.”

“Seriously?” Liv raised her eyebrow and smirked.

“What?” Rafael turned to look at her.

“And here I didn’t want to bring the kids because I didn’t want anyone getting over excited. Now I know where they get it from.”

“But he is adorable. Look, his tag says his name is Humphrey and he's ten months old.” Rafael went to stick his fingers in the cage. “Hi Humphrey.”

“Honey, no!” she exclaimed.

“What's the matter?”

“He might bite you.” Liv said. “You don’t go sticking your fingers into a strange dog’s cage all willy-nilly. You might come back with a stump. Let's get one of the employees over here and find out some things about Humphrey before touching him, OK?”

“OK.” Rafael nodded. He looked sad that he couldn’t love all over the dog right away. Humphrey had already come to the front of the cage, looking for a little attention. As soon as Liv walked away, Rafael gingerly touched his wet nose.

They had both left work early and headed out to The Bronx. There was a German shepherd rescue called Good Shepherd that one of the detectives in the precinct told Liv about. The NYPD had actually adopted a few dogs from the rescue mission over a year ago. Right now they had 22 dogs and puppies, all German shepherds and all in need of a good home or a foster family. Often people would buy or rescue German shepherds and not take into account how much responsibility any dog really was.

“Excuse me?” Liv stopped a young woman walking by. “Could you tell us a little bit about Humphrey?”

“Sure, he's one of my favorites.” She smiled as she walked over to the cage.

“See, I told you he was a good puppy.” Rafael said.

“My husband is suddenly dog crazy today. We’re considering a family pet and after a lot of research we think we've settled on a German shepherd.”

“Well Humphrey came to us six weeks ago from a family in Brooklyn. The parents told their adult son that getting a dog was OK but they were unimpressed when he brought home a German shepherd. Humphrey lived there for a couple of months but the parents didn’t think he was the right fit so they surrendered him.”

“Did he display any troubling tendencies?” Liv asked.

“I can't say what he did there but here he’s just a sweetheart.” She replied. “At play time he is ready for anything. Frisbee and tug of war are his favorites. He is smart and loves to be cuddled, which some German shepherds don’t, even when they’re loving dogs. Humphrey barks when he’s happy but he’ll usually only bark once or twice before settling down. He came to us with a bit of training, already knew things like no and food and sit, but I'm always one to recommend a good puppy school. With dogs like German shepherds it’s a big help.”

“Can we hold him?” Rafael asked.

“Of course.” She went to unlock the cage. “He just got back from playing in the yard about 40 minutes ago so the last time I walked by he was sound asleep. Hey Humphrey, c'mere buddy.” She took him from the cage and the puppy licked her face.

Rafael immediately began to pet him and Liv put her hand under his nose. He was a really cute puppy, though most puppies were cute. He had ears like a wolf and his coat was both brown and black. Humphrey’s eyes were clear and his nose nice and wet. When Rafael cuddled him close to his chest, they both seemed to be in heaven.

“We’re adopting him.” Rafael said.

“We’re not going to look at any other dogs or ask any more questions?” Liv countered.

“Yes, let's ask more questions. Then we can adopt him.”

“We have three kids at home.” Liv smirked. “How are German shepherds with kids?”

“Most say they're a cross between a babysitter and a cop.” The girl, whose tag said Mindy laughed. “Introducing a puppy into a home is always an adventure. Shepherds are mellow dogs but when it’s time for play they are all in. 

“They are very protective of loved ones and can be aloof or even aggressive with strangers so it’s important to socialize your dogs with others. Take them to the dog park at least once a day as a puppy. Have all the family and friends come over and introduce themselves so they smell familiar and safe to your dog. Also, he's going to grow…he is going to grow by leaps and bounds.”

“But it’s still best to keep him in the house with the family, even when he’s fully grown?” Rafael asked. He was still cuddling the puppy.

“Absolutely.” Mindy nodded. “The average adult male German shepherd grows to about two feet tall on all fours and close to 100 pounds. Sometimes they still want to sleep in bed with you at that weight. They are very loving and loyal members of your family when you take them home. But they are work.”

“We’re going to get a dog walker.” Liv said. “Both us and the children are gone during the day and we know someone needs to spend quality time with the dog. That’s definitely something we’re already working on.”

“Do you live here in the Bronx?” Mindy asked.

“We live in Clinton Hill.” Rafael said. “We have a three bedroom house and a backyard.”

“We also live two blocks away from a great dog park.” Liv said. “We’ve done all the research…this has been a very informed decision.”

“The goal here at Good Shepherd is to have all of our dogs, pups and the pup at heart, housed with good, loving families. We can start the paperwork right now if you’ve made a decision.”

“I don’t think I could separate those two if I wanted to.” Liv said.

“Let me just put Humphrey back in his cage…” Mindy turned to take the dog from Rafael.

“Do you have to?” he asked.

“You'll need both hands to sign all the papers, sir.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, you two will be together again in no time.”

Rafael surrendered the dog, going to put his arm around his wife. He figured this would be a good thing for the kids but didn’t know he would find the puppy so irresistible. It was going to be work but the Barba family was used to that. They all led very busy lives. Humphrey would be joining a family always on the move. A loyal, loving, gigantic dog was going to fit right in.

***

“Adios, abuelita!” Hope exclaimed even though she was only standing about 12 feet away from her grandmother.

“Adios cuchura.” Lucia blew her a kiss.

“I don’t want to put on my jacket, mommy. I'm only going to the car.”

“OK,” Olivia handed it to her. “Carry it then, and take your backpack.”

“Bye abuelita. I love you.” Lucia rushed out the door right behind her sister.

“Bye bye Lucia. I made them some crab croquettes for lunch tomorrow.” Lucia handed the Tupperware bowl to her son.

“Mami, do you really think these will make it until tomorrow?” he asked.

“Don’t you eat my grandbabies’ food. You need to feed them more, Rafi. Hope is too skinny.”

“Hope eats like a ravenous wolverine, and so do her brother and sister. She’s just a picky eater so you have to give her what she likes.”

“Well she likes crab croquettes.” Lucia said. “What are you making for dinner tonight?”

“Olivia put pot roast in the slow cooker. We’ll make mashed potatoes and lima beans to go with it.”

“I hope you mean real potatoes and not the ones from the box.”

“Mami…” Rafael sighed. “You're killing me.”

“Oh shush.” She handed Olivia a piece of paper. “Here is the grocery list. I didn’t want to write it…I'm sure you have better things to do than my shopping.”

“Nonsense.” Olivia put the paper in her purse. “I'm going to do the shopping and then we’ll have coffee and cookies while I put the groceries away.”

“How did I end up with such an amazing daughter-in-law?” Lucia asked.

“I may have had something to do with that.” Rafael smiled.

“Very little.” His wife replied.

“Adios, abuelita.” Noah came into the kitchen and gave his grandmother a hug and kiss. “Te amo. (1)”

“También te quiero, cacahuete. Sé bueno. (2)”

“I will.”

“Did you really get the kids a dog?” Lucia asked once Noah had left the house.

“You should’ve seen him at the rescue place.” Liv laughed. “He didn’t even want to let the dog go once it was in his arms. It was adorable and strange at the same time.”

“He’s great Mami, his name is Humphrey.”

“I don’t like dogs.” Lucia shook her head. “They shed all over the place and eat shoes.”

“We might lose a few shoes to Humphrey.” Liv said. “I think it’s a loss we’re willing to take.”

“So you say right now.”

“We have to go, Mami.” Rafael kissed her cheek. “Te amo.”

“Adios. I’ll see you on Wednesday, Olivia.”

“Bye Mom.” Olivia kissed her cheek too.

They walked out of the house together and got into the SUV. The kids were in the back, Hope and Noah into their tablets and Lucia goofing around with her light saber.

“Daddy,” she said as Rafael started the car. “I wanna get fencing lessons so I can be a Jedi when I grow up.”

“Fencing lessons?” 

“Abuelita said that Jedis have to know how to fence.”

“Those lessons could get pretty expensive, sweetie.” Liv said. “Fencing is something to take very seriously and devote a lot of time too. It’s not just play.”

“I wanna do it Mommy, honest. And abuelita said we’re rich so daddy can afford it.”

“Your grandmother told you that I'm rich?” Rafael asked.

“Yep.” Lucia nodded.

“She did say you could afford fencing lessons, Dad.” Noah said.

“There's three of you and you're all going to want to pursue something. As well you should, I will encourage you with all the love in my heart. But we are not rich…we’re comfortable but we won't be if we spend money on every idea you might like for five minutes.”

“I'm going to like fencing forever.” Lucia said.

“If Lucia becomes a Jedi, I wanna take ballet.” Hope said.

“Do you want anything Noah, since we’re rich?” Liv asked.

“An acoustic guitar and some art lessons.” He replied. “Since we’re rich and all.”

Liv looked at him in the rearview mirror and he was smiling. That was her baby boy, Noah just always seemed to understand. He had his limitations; school would probably get harder as he got older. But he loved to draw and always enjoyed making music…even on his baby xylophone as a toddler. Liv and Rafael always encouraged his artistic side and his love of comic books. 

They never wanted him to feel less than because he wouldn’t always be on academic par with his classmates. His parents didn’t think twice about paying for the afterschool tutors and summer courses. Finding money for something he was good at and wanted to explore was probably a good idea. It looks like they had a Jedi and a ballerina in their midst as well.

“Are we rich, Daddy?” Lucia asked. “Am I going to be able to fence?”

“Your mom and I will have a discussion about it. Now let's have a nice, quiet ride home. Turn off your light saber, Lucia, you're going to kill the battery.”

She sighed but did as her father said. Rafael put on the radio. He really knew how to annoy his kids, he would play some Marc Anthony. The twins always groaned that he sang too fast and they had no idea what was happening. His wife gently rubbed his arm and he smiled at her. He was fine, had did the dad thing and did it well. He knew they were going to turn every hair on his head white and then make it fall out. At least Olivia would still love him when he was bald and deranged.

***

“There's a surprise for you guys behind the couch.” Liv said as she unlocked the front door. They parked the car a block and a half away in the parking garage where they paid a monthly fee. It was a nice evening, though you could smell the rain in the air. Somehow she ended up carrying both of her daughters’ backpacks.

“What is it?” Hope asked as they all walked into the house.

“If we tell you then it won't be a surprise.” Rafael said.

“Well I know it can't be fencing lessons cuz I just asked about those today.” Lucia said.

“Lucia Serena Barba,” Rafael put his hands on both sides of his daughter’s face. He kissed her forehead. “Small of child, mighty of mouth, go and look at your surprise.”

“OK daddy.”

All three kids walked around the couch and Hope squealed first. 

“Oh my god, it’s a big puppy. Noah, take him out of jail so we can play with him.”

Noah bent down and opened the cage. The puppy seemed shy at first but with a little plodding came out. Lucia immediately scooped him into her arms. 

“Whoa, he's heavy.”

“I wanna play with him too.” Hope said. “Don’t hog him.”

“Bring him around here Lucia, and put him on the floor.” Liv said. “You and Hope can play with him together.”

She did what her mother said and both girls began to pet and love all over the puppy. The puppy enjoyed every minute of it.

“It’s a German shepherd.” Lucia said. “I can't believe you got him for me.”

“We got him for the whole family.” Rafael clarified. “His name is Humphrey and he's going to be our dog, not just yours.”

“Can we change his name?” Hope asked, making a face. “Humphrey sounds like an elephant’s name.”

“We’re going to keep Humphrey.” Liv replied. “He's used to it and it'll be easier to train him with a name he recognizes and responses to. I'm sure soon you'll come up with fun little nicknames for him so you won't even have to think about changing his name.”

“Do you like the dog, Noah?” Rafael asked.

“He's pretty cute.” Noah nodded. “I had my heart set on a Rottweiler but he's definitely cute. Yeah, I like him. If he poops in the house, I'm not cleaning it up.”

“Eww, me too…I mean me either.” Lucia said.

“Everyone is going to have doggie duty.” Rafael said. “You can't enjoy the fun of a family pet without the hard work too. Responsibility is a good thing.”

All three of his children gave him the skeptical look but Rafael didn’t, and knew Liv didn’t either, intend to let them off easy. They wanted a dog so bad and they would be involved in all aspects of it. Soon the Benson-Barbas would fall into a routine like they did with everything. Liv had even interviewed and hired a dog walker two days ago. She came highly recommended so Humphrey would get all the attention and exercise he needed while the family was off at school and work.

“Are you sure we can't change his name, Mommy?” Lucia asked. “Humphrey doesn’t sound like a dog name.”

“You can call him Humph, sweetie. He’ll probably like that.”

“OK, I’ll try.”

“I'm going to check on the pot roast.” Rafael went into the kitchen to look at how dinner was coming along. It had been in there almost eight hours so it was probably close to perfect. He knew he seasoned it well, cut up carrots, onions, and a few potatoes to give it that perfect homemade flavor. So the kids would have some real potatoes to go with the ones in the box tonight at the dinner table.

“Noah, can we teach the dog sign language?” Hope asked. 

Rafael couldn’t help but smile when he heard his daughter’s question.

“I don’t think so…he doesn’t have fingers like humans do. That might be really hard.”

“Actually, they communicate with deaf dogs through sign language.” Olivia said, reaching down to pet Humphrey herself. He really was a cute puppy and seemed happy to have a home. “I've been thinking about doggie daycare a few days a week to teach him proper manners and how not to be aggressive with other dogs and strangers. I can see if they would teach him using verbal speech and some sign language. It might be fun for all of us to learn a little.”

“Is there really a such thing as deaf dogs?” Lucia asked.

“Yes sweetheart. A lot of things that affect humans also affect animals. It’s handled differently, of course, but it’s still a part of the animal kingdom.”

“I'm gonna try to find books about deaf dogs. I wish we could have a cat too but I don’t want to kill Daddy.” Hope said.

“I almost did once.” Noah laughed. “I wish I was old enough to remember how petrified he was. OK, I'm heading upstairs to do some drawing. Call me when dinner’s ready.”

“You alright, honey?” Liv asked. She almost went over and felt his forehead but stopped herself. Noah had his fair share of illnesses when he was young. Whenever he didn’t seem like his normal self she always checked his forehead and his tummy. Most of the time he let her.

“Yeah, I'm good. I was just working on some good stuff at Abuelita’s house and want to see how far I can take it.”

“We’re going to stay and play with the dog.” Lucia said.

“Alright guys, have fun.”

Liv went into the kitchen, wanted to know if Rafael needed any help with dinner.

“I've got four essays to read on the interpretation of the Seventh Amendment so the answer is yes.”

“Well I’ll make the potatoes and lima beans…you start reading those papers. We always have dinner as a family on Sundays.”

“I'm not going to miss a second of it. I should be done at least one when the food I'd ready.”

He put his arms around her from behind, kissing the nape of her neck and then her cheek.

“Me amas bebe? (3)” he whispered in her ear.

“Siempre, siempre, siempre, y una década después que. (4)”

“I love when you speak my language.” Rafael turned her around and kissed her lips. “I’ll read one paper and then come and have dinner with you guys.”

“I'm looking forward to it.” Liv smiled, caressing his face.

He headed out of the kitchen and into the hallway. There was a room off the kitchen that Rafael made into a study. There were two rooms actually, a big selling point on the house. The other was a den for the kids. 

They didn’t usually do much playing, goofing around, or watching TV in the living room. That was where guests would congregate when the couple had them over. The front of the house with its lovely display furniture and snazzier tabletops were for occasions. The den was for pizza night and to play on the Wii.

***

“I'm so tired.” Rafael moaned as he crawled into bed. He head-butted Liv’s arm like a cat eager to be loved. When she lifted her arm, he pressed his face into her side. His moaning turned pleasurable when she ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

“You made it…another day down.”

“How do we do all that we do?” he asked.

“Magic.”

“You have magic; I'm just beat to hell.”

“Is it that bad, Counselor?” Liv turned to look at him.

“Tomorrow is Monday. We have to do it all over again. I want 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep tonight. Maybe nine but I don’t want to stretch too far for an unattainable goal.”

“It can be arranged. I’ll get up and get the kids ready tomorrow. You don’t have class until ten, why don’t you just sleep in.”

“It’s not as much fun when I'm doing it by myself.” Rafael said.

“You'll be snoring and will hardly notice I'm gone.”

“Sad, but probably true mi amor. Sleeping in sounds perfect. What are you doing?”

“I'm looking into affordable fencing and ballet classes.” Liv replied.

“I cannot believe my mother told them we were rich. What are we even supposed to do with that?”

“We are comfortable.”

“We’d be more comfortable if we didn’t have this house.” He said.

“There was an agreement that three children couldn’t be raised in a two-bedroom on the Upper West Side. The sale of that condo bought almost all of this house. It’s only going to appreciate more over the years.”

“I don’t know if we’re fencing and ballet comfortable.”

“Well I'm not going to let Lucia miss out on her Olympic opportunity because Daddy still wants to perpetrate poor. Especially since he wears very expensive suits.”

“She wants to be a Jedi, Liv.” He said. “And Lucia has no idea how much my suits cost.”

“She wants to be a Jedi today. After some lessons she could decide that she wants to be world junior sabre champion. Or she could get bored to tears and we won't have to have this discussion. Kids want to find things they enjoy. They want to experiment and explore and make believe. Yes, they can do those things for free but sometimes it costs. I, for one, am so glad we can provide them with things we didn’t have as kids.”

“You're magical.” Rafael smiled. He sat up and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I also found a great used acoustic guitar for Noah. It only cost $55.”

“That’s pretty good. I'm sure he’ll love that. He's always been into making music. I remember the morning I gave him the big wooden spoon and put the napkin over his high chair table so he wouldn’t wake you with all the banging. He was very Keith Moon at that age.”

“You’ve been his papi for a long time, even when you hardly knew how to be. Do I ever tell you what an amazing father you are?”

“I could stand to hear that every day.” He said. “The kids tell me and it feels really good. We have a great family…we have a dog.”

“Humphrey is exhausted.” Liv looked over at the puppy, asleep in his new dog bed. One of the dog rules was that he would sleep in the master bedroom so the kids wouldn’t fight about who got to keep him overnight. That went over as well as to be expected but Liv didn’t budge. “He had great time playing tug of war with the twins.”

“He looks like I feel.”

“Go to sleep, honey. I know you're tired…you don’t have to wait up for me. I’ll probably hang for another half hour or so. I think I'm onto something with affordable ballet in Brooklyn.”

“Wake me when you come to bed.” Rafael sighed, getting up from the bed and throwing back the covers. “I'm gonna wanna squeeze you.”

Liv smiled. Most nights he wanted to squeeze her, though he didn’t always have the energy. Today had been very busy, traveling to the Bronx, back home, and then to the South Bronx to his mother’s house. There was also the typical adventures with three kids and now a dog. She was actually surprised that Rafael was still on his feet. 

It wasn’t that Liv couldn’t get tired, quite the contrary, but she and her husband had different energies. She never made it through all 13 parts of I, Claudius…she rarely made it through half in a day. But she could go to a Zumba class for an hour and come home and cook a meal for two or even five. Rafael could spend four hours grading tests and papers without batting an eyelash. If he had to go to a dinner for a colleague or a cause he was passionate about, 90 minutes was his limit. 

Their energies complemented each other and always had. So he would sleep and she would find classes for the girls. In a few days she would pick up Noah’s guitar and Rafael would give it to him, probably attempting to strum a tune and seem cool to his son. He really wouldn’t need to, Noah thought the world of him anyway.

“Bésame. (5)” Liv leaned down and put her finger on her lips. “Sleep tight.”

“Goodnight, mi amor.” Rafael kissed his wife and turned onto his stomach; it was definitely that kind of night. Tomorrow he would wake up and do it all over again. Having the best partner at his side made some of the tougher moments a little easier.

***

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I love you.  
> 2) I love you too, peanut. Be good.  
> 3) You love me, baby?  
> 4) Always, always, always, and for a decade after that.  
> 5) Kiss me.


End file.
